ZeroKnowledge, producers of the Freedom Internet Privacy Suite,
a package of software that provided a personal firewall, blocked
cookies and banner ads, locally stored and encrypted website login
information, and scanned outgoing data to ensure personal
information wasn’t being sent out against a user’s wishes, has
announced that they’re discontinuing Linux support due to low
interest in their Linux offerings and a “strong customer
preference” for Windows.
It also appears (though company spokesmen didn’t answer
definitively as we prepared this for posting) that the change in
availability may also signal a move away from the open source
availability of the product.
From the company’s release
notes on Freedom 2.2:
“Due to strong customer preference for the Windows
platform, there will be no further releases of Freedom for Linux.
Current Linux Standard Features users can continue using the latest
version available for Linux (2.1) for free for a limited time.
During this period, we encourage you to purchase the Freedom
Internet Privacy Suite Standard Features or Premium Services for a
supported platform if you wish to continue using Freedom in the
future.Freedom is no longer available freely for re-download. In
addition, Linux users can no longer purchase Freedom. As a result,
you will be unable to use Freedom unless you upgrade your operating
system to Windows 98, 2000, or ME. We apologize for the
inconvenience that this may cause.Freedom is no longer available for free. Your order confirmation
number will be required to access the re-download page.
Additionally, Freedom for Linux can no longer be purchased from our
web site. Users that previously used the free Linux version will
need to purchase Freedom and upgrade their operating system to
Windows 98, 2000, or ME should they need to re-download the
installer. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may
cause.”
An open source, Java-based project (which also considers Linux
support “an added bonus”) called CryptoBox is attempting a
similar offering.
NewsForge has a writeup on CryptoBox.